Shams was an Iranian Sufi mystic born in the city of Tabriz in Iranian Azerbaijan. He introduced Mawlana Ja ad-Dun Muhammad Balkhi, usually known as Rumi in the West, to Islamic mysticism, for which he was immortalized in Rumi's poetry collection Diwan-e Shams-e Tabriz-i ("The Works of Shams of Tabriz"). Shams lived together with Rumi in Konya, in present-day Turkey, for several years, and is also known to have traveled to Damascus in present-day Syria. - Read more